


Pressure

by o0JayWolf0o



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, Depression, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, not really a lot of fluff but whatever, vent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 04:31:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12182937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/o0JayWolf0o/pseuds/o0JayWolf0o
Summary: Everything was hard to do. Heavy, if you will. He really hated it.





	Pressure

He didn’t really want to open his eyes. Everything felt like a weight on his limbs and his clothes stuck to his skin uncomfortably. He rolled over, his eyelids glued shut as he kicked his blanket off. He knew he needed to get up, because he’d have the entire meteor pounding away at his door in hours, but he found that he didn’t care.

Dave buried his face in the sheets and let his consciousness drift off. He awoke to the sound of ‘pings’ from his phone.

He turned it to silent, with much difficulty, and forced himself back to sleep. It wasn’t that much of a challenge, he found, because he fell into that comforting void only minutes after tossing his phone under his bed.

He next awoke to a voice outside his door. For a moment, it sounded garbled, like a string of nothingness, before it took clear form.

“...leave, you’ve been in there for two days, Dave.” That crisp, clear voice was obviously Rose.

In response, Dave rolled onto his back and blinked up at the ceiling. His eyes hurt, and not because of light, for once. He felt so tired and weak, his forehead beading with a sheen of sweat. “Dave?” Rose again prompted.

“Hold on!” He spoke, his voice thick with wariness. He fumbled around for a bit before throwing on his god tier clothes and opening the door. The handle felt like it weighed tons. “What?”

“Vriska wishes to discuss battle plans with us. Come, we have coffee,” she baits. If he had the choice, he’d have refused. Instead, he followed her, his limbs hanging at his sides. Every step felt like metal had been strapped to his feet and every time he moved his head he could swear his bones were made of lead.

The entire trip felt like hours and by the time he was slumped over on the couch he swore every step was a mile long. Something in his chest was heavy and his throat seemed tight. Every breath was an effort. 

Dave didn’t pay attention at all. He continued staring at a bolt in the ground, blinking very slowly and wishing he were in bed. He didn’t even notice Karkat was sitting next to him until the troll was waving a hand in front of his face. Dave didn’t want to deal with this. He didn’t want to deal with anything.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You’d think you were paying even the tiniest bit of fucking attention, but here you are, being the biggest scissorfuck of all time!” Karkat shouted. His insults, where it would usually make Dave respond with a witty reply, left nothing in him. He blinked once. Twice. Words wouldn't come.

He would have shrugged, but it felt like boxes of silver had been precariously balanced on each shoulder. “I don’t know.” That was all he said before he returned to staring at the bolt in the floor.

Time passed. He thinks everyone’s left, but he’s not sure. He lifted his head. Kanaya was reading at the table but everyone else was gone. Instead of greeting her, he let himself stare back at the bolt on the floor. It wasn’t an interesting bolt at all, but he couldn’t bring himself to sit up and move back to his room. He didn’t know why he felt that way. He didn’t care to find out.

He drifted off eventually, only coming to consciousness every now and then. Tiny bits of memory resurfaced every so often. The sound of the coffee machine roaring to life and Vriska and Terezi shoving him off the couch. He slept on the floor. The nudging of someone pushing him until he decided to sleep under the couch. It was tight, but the offender couldn’t hurt him anymore. 

When he was being dragged from the couch, he sighed. By their tight grip, it was surely Terezi. “Dave!” That was Vriska, he thinks. He feels himself get slapped. 

“Stop. Stop,” he groans, raising his arm and pitifully swatting the arm away.

“No, I think  _ you _ need to stop, Mr. Cherryswagger. You haven’t made a metaphor in a week, much less  _ said _ anything worth of importance,” Terezi grins.

He shrugs. “Sorry.”

Vriska grabs the front of his shirt and shakes him back and forth. He doesn’t like it, so he holds her arms and she stills. “Dave fucking Strider, stop fucking moping! Whatever the hell is going on,  _ I don’t like it! _ ” 

There’s silence. His shades are slightly dislodged, revealing one of his eyes. “Sorry,” he echoes. 

Vriska opens her mouth before a pale, white hand stops her. “Vriska, can’t you see what this is?” Rose murmurs.

“What? What is it, Rose, and how can I fucking fix it?” Vriska seethes.

“It’s depression.”

Oh. That’s what he’s been going through? The heavy feeling in his chest seems impossibly big and he swallows thickly. He just wants to sleep for a very long time. Forever, maybe. He didn't know depression was this bad. Or numb.

Vriska softens, but throws Dave to the ground anyway. “Whatever. Do something. Talk to him about it, or some shit,” she mutters, wandering off. Terezi trails after her, almost like a lost puppy.

Rose helps him to his block, where Karkat waits. Rose and the mutant share a look before Dave’s sister leaves the room.

It’s no secret that Dave has some...  _ troubling _ feelings about Karkat. He knows what they are, but doesn’t exactly want to, well, admit it to himself. What he wants, now, though, is to just curl up in Karkat’s lap and sleep forever.

He sits beside the troll, letting himself fall into his sweatpants. Karkat gives him a curious, concerned look, but brushes it aside as Dave slides his shades from his face and tosses them in the direction of his desk. From the sound they make, he’s admittedly not sure if they make it, but by the look Karkat gives him, he’s almost positive they hit the floor.

Karkat sighs, carding his hands through Dave’s hair. Dave ends up falling asleep this way, his chest almost lighter.

Everything felt heavy, but maybe Karkat could help Dave carry on through this.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry everyones kinda out of character gnhh   
>  kudos and comments are appreciated   
>  [ tumblr ](https://o0jaywolf0o.tumblr.com)


End file.
